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Claude Giroux has two goals and six points in four games with Team Canada in the 2017 World Championship.

Giroux is serving as the captain for Canada, which has gotten off to a 4-0 start in the tournament. He had a rough 2016-17 campaign by his standards with 14 goals and 58 points in 82 contests, but so far it's looking like playing in the Worlds will allow him to enter the summer on a more positive note. May 12 - 10:51 AM

Claude Giroux will captain Team Canada in the 2017 World Championships.

Giroux has played for Canada in several tournaments in the past. He's won gold medals with Canada in the 2008 World Juniors and 2015 World Championships. In that 2015 tournament, Giroux scored three goals and 10 points in 10 games. He was also part of Canada's championship squad in the 2016 World Cup, though he only participated in one game in that tournament. May 4 - 7:00 PM

Claude Giroux's 14 goals in 2016-17 is a career-low among seasons where he participated in a full campaign.

The only times Giroux has scored less than 14 goals was 2007-08, 2008-09, and 2013 and in each of those campaigns he played in 48 or fewer games. He had a shooting percentage of 7.0 this season, which is well below his career average of 10.6%. He did have offseason hip and abdominal surgeries, which impacted him this season so perhaps he'll bounce back in 2017-18 when those are no longer a factor. Apr 10 - 10:29 AM

Depth Charts

Claude Giroux has two goals and six points in four games with Team Canada in the 2017 World Championship.

Giroux is serving as the captain for Canada, which has gotten off to a 4-0 start in the tournament. He had a rough 2016-17 campaign by his standards with 14 goals and 58 points in 82 contests, but so far it's looking like playing in the Worlds will allow him to enter the summer on a more positive note.

While plus/minus always needs to be taken with a grain of salt, Couturier had a plus-18 rating in his final 19 games. He was also strong offensively over that span with five goals and 17 points. "Sean Couturier was playing the best hockey I've ever seen him play," teammate Jakub Voracek said. Couturier's overall campaign was nothing out of the ordinary though as he finished with 14 goals, 34 points, and a plus-12 rating in 66 games. So the question now is if his hot finish was a taste of things to come or just part of an inconsistent campaign. Couturier, 24, has always had offensive upside, but he's failed to reach the 40-point mark in any of his first six NHL campaigns.

The Philadelphia Flyers were happy with the play of Valtteri Filppula after they acquired him from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline.

Filppula had five goals and eight points in 20 games but GM Ron Hextall is looking forward to next season when he has him for all 82 games. "I felt like later in the year, we had more bullets in our gun," Hextall said. "(Jordan) Weal comes in and does a good job. Filppula comes in and really gives us stability. Really upgraded our top nine. So when you're talking 5-on-5 play, just to depend on five or six guys, all of a sudden you have nine guys you can count on." Filppula ended the campaign with 12 goals and 42 points so look for similar numbers next season if he remains healthy.

Nolan Patrick is expected to play his natural position at center if the stays with the Flyers in 2017-18.

It's expected that Patrick will at least be with Philadelphia out of training camp as long as he can stay healthy. If he doesn't have any issues from abdominal surgery in June then he could center the Flyers' second or third line. Patrick could see ice time with several different linemates, including Jakub Voracek, Oskar Lindblom, Valtteri Filppula, Michael Raffl, Jordan Weal and Wayne Simmonds. He also may see action on the power play.

Lehtera can play center or the wing and he can kill penalties. He was acquired from the Blues on Friday night in a deal that sent Brayden Schenn to St. Louis. Lehtera registered just seven goals and 22 points in 64 games last season. His production has dropped each year since he had 14 goals and 44 points in 75 contests in 2014-15.

It's a two-year deal worth $1.8 million so the salary cap hit will be $900,000. The former Union College star had 29 goals and 63 points this past season before agreeing to an entry level contract at the end of March with Philadelphia. Look for Vecchione to make the Flyers out of training camp or get called up quickly if he starts the season in the minors. He is worth looking at in deep leagues.

Konecny has 11 goals and 28 points in 68 games this season. He's averaged 14:10 minutes per game and has spent some time in the press box. "There are guys in this room, who tell me they have gone through the exact same things I have gone through during my first year," Konecny said. "Whether it's being scratched a few times or playing on the fourth line through the first, anywhere in the lineup. It's all part of the game. I learned this year to stay confident and work hard. Eventually, you get your chances." He's got a lot of upside, so it will be interesting to see how he responds in his sophomore campaign.

The Philadelphia Flyers have re-signed Jordan Weal to a two-year deal.

He'll make $3.5 million over the lifetime of the contract. Weal reportedly met with a few teams in the last couple of days, but in the end he decided to stay put. The 25-year-old had 12 points in 23 games with the Flyers last season and he added an impressive 47 points in 43 games in the AHL. He should get every opportunity to play a key role with Philadelphia next season.

Michael Raffl was not protected by Philadelphia for the expansion draft.

Raffl generated just 11 points in 52 games last season after he had 31 points in 82 matches in 2015-16. However, goaltender Michal Neuvirth or forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare may interest the Golden Knights more than Raffl.

Laughton is coming off his entry-level contract. He played almost exclusively in the AHL last season after spending 2015-16 with Philadelphia, but Flyers GM Ron Hextall is very happy with what he was from Laughton. "Scotty had a terrific year," Hextall said. "He improved a lot, his focus and his professionalism. Quite honestly, I think Scotty really grew up last year. So Scott is certainly going to be given an opportunity to make the hockey club."

The Philadelphia Flyers have been very happy with Oskar Lindblom's development.

"Some of these kids make a lot of progress in a couple years and I think Oskar is one of those guys," Flyers GM Ron Hextall said. "His skating, you look at certain players, they don't have a great stride and their skating can certainly get better, but there's a bit of ceiling there. With Oskar, it was more of a strength issue and that's what's come on with him. It's been a couple of years, he's gotten a lot stronger and you can just tell when you see him out on the ice there." Lindblom broke out in 2016-17 with 22 goals and 47 points in 52 Swedish league games, then he came to North America where he recorded another seven points in eight AHL contests. He'll be worth keeping an eye on during training camp as he has a shot of making the team, perhaps in a top-six forward role.

Jakub Voracek is projected to play with Claude Giroux and Matt Read on Thursday night.

Voracek hasn't scored a goal in 10 straight games and he has just four assists during that span, so a reunion with Giroux could help. Valtteri Filppula is slated to skate between Wayne Simmonds and Jordan Weal.

Wayne Simmonds has been nominated for the NHL Foundation Player Award.

The award is given to "an NHL player who applies the core values of hockey – commitment,
perseverance and teamwork – to enrich the lives of people in his community." The winner of the award will receive $25,000 to donate to the charity of their choice. Wayne's Road Hockey Warriors has helped raise $100,000 through this event.

Read has one more season left on his contract at a $3.625 million cap hit. Philadelphia's roster could be a bit more crowded in 2017-18 if the No. 2 overall pick in the draft makes the jump right away to the NHL. However, another buyout may be unlikely since the Flyers will still have a $1.5 million charge against the cap because of R.J. Umberger.

Ivan Provorov has been named the winner of the Barry Ashbee award given to the Flyers best defenseman.

Not too shabby for a 20-year-old blueliner to be named the team's top defenseman but Provorov is a top talent who will only get better. "It was a huge honor," said Provorov, the youngest Ashbee winner in franchise history. "Lots of good defensemen won this award in the past. I couldn’t have done this alone without my teammates and all the D partners I have played with, so just a huge thanks to them. We will keep getting better. I will keep getting better." He was the third rookie defenseman to win the award and second in a row as Shayne Gostisbehere won it last season.

Gostisbehere didn't feel like he was ever able to establish a rhythm last year after he had surgery to repair injuries to his hip and abdominal muscles in May 2016. "It's your thought process," he said. "You're making cuts, you're doing things [and] you think about it. 'I could have gone a little faster there. Is that from the surgery?' It's more mental than anything." He struggled during his sophomore campaign after an impressive rookie year. If Gostisbehere returns to form then he could be a great value pick on the back end.

The Flyers' defense is getting younger and MacDonald's contract still has three years remaining with an annual cap hit of $5 million. Philadelphia could offer the Vegas Golden Knights draft picks as incentive to take MacDonald in a trade or in the expansion draft.

We don't have a timetable for Manning's recovery, but given that the procedure has been termed as minor, we imagine he'll be fine for training camp. He finished the 2016-17 campaign with 12 points and 83 penalty minutes in 65 games.

Sanheim scored 10 goals and 36 points in 76 AHL contests last season. It was the 21-year-old defenseman's first full pro campaign. "I feel like I'm ready, I'm going to compete for a spot," Sanheim said. "Until somebody tells me differently, that's my goal. I'm coming to make the Flyers." There are potential defensive spots open, but he'll have to prove that he deserves one of them over fellow prospects Robert Hagg and Sam Morin, which will be a difficult, but not impossible task.

Updating a previous report, general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers Ron Hextall has confirmed that Samuel Morin recently underwent surgery on both wrists.

Hextall texted in to Philly News writer Sam Carchidi that the injury is "nothing long term". Morin stands at 6-foot-7, weighing 227 pounds and was the 11th overall pick of the Flyers in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He is expected to be a regular contributor to the blue line for the Flyers next season.

Brian Elliott has signed a two-year/$5.5 million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Elliott will battle Michal Neuvirth and Anthony Stolarz for the starting gig in net with the Flyers. Elliott had an up-and-down season with Calgary last season as he started very slowly, going 3-9-1 but turned it on big time during the middle of the season as he finished the season with a 26-18-3 record as well as a 2.55 GAA and a .910 save percentage. Look for 40-45 starts in Philly for the netminder and draft him in the late middle rounds in deeper pools.

Michal Neuvirth could be the player that Vegas plucks off Philadelphia's roster in the expansion draft.

Neuvirth was a member of the Capitals when new Vegas GM George McPhee was there and that familiarity could get him selected. If he gets taken then the Flyers may circle back to pending UFA netminder Steve Mason. The Flyers surprisingly chose to protect Anthony Stolarz instead of Neuvirth.

Anthony Stolarz has signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Stolarz had a 2.92 GAA and .911 save percentage in 29 AHL contests in 2016-17. He also recorded a 2.07 GAA and .928 save percentage in seven NHL games with the Flyers. Philadelphia has Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth, so Stolarz will probably begin the campaign in the minors.